Utility crews continue work to restore power to thousands of Minnesotans in wake of storms
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Utility crews were back out Wednesday across the Twin Cities and surrounding areas of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Thousands of homes and businesses remained without power in the wake of storms earlier in the week.
The severe weather late Monday and early Tuesday downed trees and knocked out power to more than 150,000 homes and businesses. As of late Wednesday morning, that number had dropped to fewer than 30,000.
Xcel Energy said it’s had about 1,700 employees and contractors in the field to repair outages, prioritizing those which affect the largest number of customers.
The utility said it may not have power fully restored to everyone until Thursday evening. In Minneapolis, where several thousand residents remained without power on Wednesday, city officials encouraged people to check on their neighbors — especially the elderly, and people with health issues or disabilities.
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City officials also passed along tips from the federal government for extended power outages, including disconnecting appliances and electronics to avoid damage from possible electric surges while outages are underway.
Federal officials also say people should throw out any refrigerated or frozen food that’s been exposed to temperatures of 40 degrees or greater for more than two hours — or has an unusual odor, color or texture.
Connexus Energy was also still reporting numerous outages Wednesday, from the northern Twin Cities metro toward Isanti and Cambridge.
Meanwhile, city and park crews and residents continued clearing downed trees and branches. Quiet weather was in the forecast for Minnesota on Wednesday, but there will be another chance for storms — some possibly severe — on Thursday.